


'Tis the Season

by StevetheIcecube



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Team as Family, Torna Tuesday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 10:45:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17160554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StevetheIcecube/pseuds/StevetheIcecube
Summary: Somewhere along the line, Mikhail had apparently decided that Torna would be celebrating the holidays that year. Everyone plays along, and it turns out to be a pretty good day.





	'Tis the Season

**Author's Note:**

> And the final Torna Tuesday of the year! Hope everyone's been having a good holiday.

“...why do you have a tree, Mikhail?” Jin watched the chaos in front of him with a fairly decent dose of amusement. Mikhail was attempting to get a tree in through their loading area, but every time he moved he came close to hitting Akhos in the face with it.

“It got blown down in the storm,” Mikhail said. “It’s a bit crushed on one side, sure, but humans do this whole thing at this time of year. Thought we could give it a go.”

Jin nodded. Normally, he’d tell the group that little frivolities were pointless and didn’t add anything to the mission, but with the latest failure in attacking Indol, morale was low. It might be a good idea to let Mikhail have his project. That said, he wasn’t going to help with getting the tree inside. It was far too entertaining for that.

When the tree was safely inside, set up in the hangar, Patroka took to decorating it. She was always the one who took the time to make things look a little less dingy than they normally did, but there wasn’t too much she could do for a half dead tree in the corner of the cavernous space.

That said, once it was strung up with an honestly surprising amount of flowers and Mikhail had nestled lightbulbs in the branches, it looked pretty nice. Patroka had raided their washing line (one day, they might recruit someone proficient in wind or fire and they wouldn’t have to have one, but for now they were stuck with a line) for the most colourful small items present - Mikhail’s socks - and had draped them over some of the branches.

Once the rest of Torna had stopped admiring the decidedly eclectic tree, Jin might have taken the time to give it a light dusting of frost. Jin wasn’t much for decorations, or making things look nice, or holidays, or much of anything, but he felt a small sense of satisfaction, watching that tree be decorated. Seeing the finished product. It was beautiful, in its own way. In a unique way that only his...his family could manage.

-

Every year, there was one day when no one was around in Alrest. Sometimes, they used those days to try and infiltrate official areas while no one was working. But this year, Torna were inside the Monoceros, participating in festivities of their own.

In some ways, Jin reflected, it showed that despite how much they teased him and ribbed him and tried to push him around, Mikhail decidedly had all of them wrapped around his little finger. Thinking on it, that was probably inevitable. Mikhail had a sort of hopeless charm about him when he wasn’t attempting to flirt, and when he set his mind on something, no one really went against him.

Still, Jin couldn’t quite believe that he’d managed to get everyone to buy gifts for each other. They made quite the sight, the five of them sat on two benches dragged down from the ship’s eating hall, all of them in front of the tree. The frost had melted a bit, but freezing the moisture left behind just made it look even better.

In a manner that completely lacked any of the order they’d carefully orchestrated for combat, they all grabbed the gifts labelled with their names. And that was when the first disaster of the day occurred.

“Did you all buy me the same book?” Akhos asked, squinting at the small wrapped package that stood on top of three identical rectangular objects. As Mikhail and Patroka exchanged a concerned glance, Akhos delicately peeled back the wrapping on the three. And, just as he’d said, there were three of the same book on recent developments in Tantalese theatre. “I already own this book.” Despite his words, Akhos was grinning.

“Huh,” Malos said, his eyes fixed on the other wrapped package. Everyone in the room had one of them, bar Jin, which made it rather obvious who they were from. He’d imagine it was obvious what they were, too, considering the hours he’d spent on it yesterday.

Those were the gifts that everyone unwrapped next, and Jin didn’t bother to try and conceal his smile when he watched them all open packages full of biscuits he’d baked the day before. Somehow, Akhos and Mikhail were surprised by the gift, or maybe that was because they’d doubted there’d be any left after they both pilfered a couple from the kitchen the day before when they were still cooling.

Crumbs were scattered all over the floor by the time anyone got to opening any more gifts. This time, Jin opened the present that was most clumsily wrapped - definitely from Malos. It was a curious lump of stone which Jin could feel raw energy coming from. He’d have to investigate its purpose later. As it was, though, it glowed, and it was a nice gift even for what it looked like. Malos looked slightly bashful when thanked.

By this point, Mikhail had grown impatient, and directed all of them to open their gifts from him. His were the most oddly shaped and loosely wrapped, despite the slightly alarmingly precise angles of the wrapping. Jin was glad to unwrap the gift; a small, vaguely humanoid figure carrying what looked to be a very sharp piece of scrap metal.

“You can replace the bit there,” Mikhail said, indicating the piece of scrap. “And if you press this bit here…” he reached over and twisted the figure around before flicking a switch on the back. “Its arm moves! It can cut things. Or hit them.”

He went round the whole group, explaining their crafted gifts to them. Akhos’ had a small fuel tank and a built in ignition tool for ‘burning all those poems you didn’t like’, Patroka’s was an extended grabbing mechanism for retrieving something just out of reach, and Malos’ was...well, Jin thought it might ruin the mood a bit to think about what a spider-like creature with rows upon rows of remotely activated sharp metal teeth was for.

Malos’ gifts to the rest of the group were also different rocks of a substance Jin now realised may have been partially crystallized ether. Each rock was a different shape and colour and gave off a slightly different energy. Jin was pretty tempted to throw the rocks at each other and see if they’d cause an explosion of some kind, but maybe he could suggest that to Mikhail at some point and watch chaos ensue.

Patroka’s gifts were next, each one a meticulously put together piece of practical handicraft. Jin’s gift from her was a hilt and handle for his sword to disguise its unique nature, probably a good gift seeing as Torna were starting to earn a little renown as the odd person survived or observed their attacks unnoticed. She gave Mikhail a leather pouch for his own weapons, and Malos a covering for his armour that looked just like it fit in the original style. No more cloaks for Malos, then.

From there, the only gifts left were Akhos’ gifts, each one a sheet of paper folded into an envelope. All of them opened theirs at the same time, Akhos practically on the edge of his seat as he watched them. Jin read over his, a thoughtful expression creeping onto his face. It was a speech of some kind, about family.

Skimming over it brought a smile to his face. It was written for him, obviously, a speech about himself. He’d seen enough plays in his time to know the format and the style, and for all Akhos’ posturing and bad ideas, it was really good. A touching monologue about caring for people quietly, understanding them and giving them space.

It was perfect. Once everyone had read through the writing they’d been given, each of them performed them, with varying degrees of talent. Jin had never been one for performances, or pretending to be something he wasn’t, or even speaking for extended periods of time. But this...this was different from his momentary forays into storytelling and the occasional acting when they were getting information.

Each one fit even the tone of their voice, the style of their speech, with Malos’ full of dramatic gestures and a not insignificant amount of yelling. His was on anger, Patroka’s on healing, Mikhail’s on revenge. Akhos had his own, meticulously rehearsed and performed without a single word in front of him.

That one was on happiness. The kind of happiness that could only be found in the darkest of times, with people who understood you. People with their own problems, own wishes. People who could support you, make sure that together you’d be okay.

Akhos’ speech was on Torna, and being together and fiercely alive despite everything. Sat on hard wooden benches in the belly of a ship under the Cloud Sea, the only defining feature of the barren hangar being the scars of overly zealous practise and their slightly broken tree, everything made sense.

And maybe it wouldn’t last very long. Maybe when they all got up tomorrow, they’d be back to failing their every exploit, getting no closer to their goal. Maybe they’d even fail, though Jin didn’t see how that was at all likely in the long run. Maybe things wouldn’t always be like they were now. But for now, he sat with his family and he could feel warmth in the heart that, for once, felt like his.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is one of my four Christmas themed fanfics for this year so if you fancy some Dragon Age, Zelda, or Fire Emblem, please check them out :) regardless of if you do or not, it would be great if you could leave a comment!


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